This past February I got to visit the Epcot Festival of the Arts – and while I loved pretty much everything about the festival, like most things at Epcot one of the absolute highlights was the food! We only spent one day there, so we didn’t have a ton of time (or stomach space!) to try everything, but I’m happy to highlight what we tried and what was really delicious.
One of the things about the food at Festival of the Arts is that they are trying to stick to the theme and the food is a lot more artistic. The presentation is pretty impressive on many of the items, and some of them feel like higher quality food items than what you might find at Food and Wine, believe it or not.
So without further ado, here are the highlights of what we enjoyed from the Epcot International Festival of the Arts Food:
The Artist’s Table
At other festivals during the year I find that I’m not really a huge fan of whatever they put in the American Adventure pavilion. I guess I find the food from other cultures more interesting than America! But this year was different – the Artist’s Table, located in America, was my favorite booth that we visited overall. We tried several items here.
One of those items was the Beef Wellington with Mushroom Bordelaise, Fennel Cream, and Roasted Baby Vegetables – $8.00
I only had a bite of this but I thought it was quite tasty. Who would expect a Beef Wellington at a theme park booth to be so good?But it was, with a rich flavor of meat and a nice pastry.
However, I preferred my order of the Pan-Seared Scallop with Chorizo, Roasted Red Pepper Coulis and a Parmesan Crisp (GF) – $6.75
Yes, it was only one scallop, but it was an excellently prepared scallop. The The accompaniments of chorizo, peppers, and the sauce went really well and were full of flavor.
Finally, I had to get the Chocolate and Beer Pairing Flight! – $12.00
This was so fun, and I was surprised at how well the beers paired with their accompanying chocolates. They were high quality, delicious chocolates too, with nice fillings. The Saugatuck Brewing Co. Neapolitan Milk Stout was paired with a Strawberry and Vanilla White chocolate. I’m not a stout drinker but the chocolate made it slightly more bearable. However, I’m not into white chocolate much either, so I passed this one along to my friend. The Vanilla Barrel Cream Ale was surprisingly good, and paired really well with the chocolate. Finally, the Framboise Lambic was of course extremely sweet, but the more dark chocolate with black currant kind of tempered it out a little. I thought they were really good pairings and enjoyed it a lot.
Cuisine Clasique
Flights are kind of my thing, so I had to try A Play on Rosé Flight — $10.00
I’d had the Angry Orchard Rosé Hard Cider before, and it’s not bad – but ciders are usually a little too sweet for me. Rose Ale was all right, but I didn’t taste much “rose” flavor in it to be honest. The Frosé was definitely the highlight here. It was sweet but not overly, with a really nice tartness. And refreshing in the Florida heat.
The Painter’s Palette
This booth was in the Odyssey building, and our timing here was perfect. Just as we walked in it started to rain, and then by the time we finished eating it was done pouring! I’d already eaten a few items by this point so I wasn’t super hungry, but my friend tried the Smoked Salmon and Cream Gâteau with Egg Yolk Cream, Paddlefish Caviar, and Micro-herbs – $7.00
This is totally the sort of food item that will make you feel fancy. I mean, it has caviar! I’m not a huge smoked salmon person but I tried a bite and there was a lot of flavor here. I think smoked salmon fans will move this. Not a huge portion for the price, but probably worth it.
I personally went with the Popcorn Beer Pairing Flight! – $11.00
This was certainly interesting. The Pilsner was paired with a bacon barbecue popcorn. This was probably my favorite of the popcorns – all the flavors were fairly unusual. The IPA was my favorite of the three beers. It was paired with a Jalapeno ranch popcorn. This was spicier than I expected with certain bites that had more jalapeno. Finally, a brown ale was matched with a buffalo bleu cheese popcorn. These were both pretty good but nothing great.
Pop Eats
This booth definitely has some of the more iconic items of the festival! I couldn’t resist ordering the Almond Frangipane Cake layered with Raspberry Jam and Callebaut Belgian Chocolate (V) – $4.50
It’s gorgeous, and such a clever item to be serving at the Festival of the Arts. It was pretty tasty too – if you’ve ever had that almond cake with raspberry and chocolate before you’ll recognize the flavor. It was a nice dessert, and the bonus is that it’s fun for instagram too 😉
For a beverage I had to go with with #RainbowSherbertGlitterDreamAle by Playalinda Brewing Co., Titusville, FL – $4.50
I mean, yes – a lot of it was for the novelty. I mean, look at the name of that beer. And it actually has glitter in it! Those things drew me into ordering it, but I actually really enjoyed the taste. It was sweet but not overly. I got a sort of “creamsicle” flavor for it. One of the best beers I had at Disney. I think it was exclusive for the festival but I really hope they bring it back or have it other places because I would totally order it again.
Takumi Table
Sushi Donut: Donut-shaped Sushi featuring Salmon, Tuna, Shrimp, Avocado and Masago accented with Citrus-soy Gelée and Wasabi on the side – – $7.50
Definitely one of my favorite food items at the Festival, if not my overall favorite. It’s adorable and fun, but tastes really good too! I like that it has a lot of variety and different flavors going on with it – plus the little wasabi Mickey is too cute.
Taste Track
The highlight here for us was the Lobster Bacon Macaroni & Cheese served in a Warm Bread Cone – $8.00
This is one of the items where we each had to get our own because we didn’t want to share! It might be a little pricey, but considering everything is at Disney I thought it was very good and worth it. The mac and cheese was tasty and there were some pretty big chunks of lobster underneath all the pasta!
Refreshment Port
Had to get some more lobster with the Lobster Chips: House-made Chips, Lobster, Lobster Bisque Cheese Sauce, Pickled Jalapeños and Citrus Cream – $8.99
This was a good item for sharing. I loved all of the flavors together and there were plenty of chunks of lobster, as you can see there. I wish the cheese sauce had been a little warmer, because it was kind of lukewarm and felt like it should be hot. But other than that, a super tasty option!
I loved everything about the Festival, but the Festival of the Arts food certainly did not disappoint! I’m already hoping I can get back next year or at some point in the future to try more of what they have to offer.
Have you tried any of the Festival of the Arts food? What looks best to you?
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